Electronic systems have been developed to operate at faster speeds while occupying smaller spaces. Thus, electronic systems have been designed to include a relatively dense configuration of microprocessors and other components to maximize processing power while minimizing the space required by the electronic systems. As the microprocessors and electronic systems become smaller and more dense, they also generate larger amounts of heat, thereby increasing the difficulty in maintaining these heat-generating components within acceptable temperature levels.
Fans, pumps, air compressors and other cooling mechanisms may be employed to dissipate the heat generated by the components contained in the electronic systems. Such cooling mechanisms are typically mounted in an electronic system, for example, to a system frame, to blow and circulate cool air through the electronic system. The structural dynamic coupling of the aforementioned cooling mechanisms to sensitive system components, such as memory drives or other disc drives, poses a big potential risk. That is because the operational vibration of such cooling mechanisms may induce or amplify the natural frequencies of the system components. In turn, this causes unwanted vibration of the system components, which can result in severe performance degradation or failure of such components. For example, unwanted vibration may cause head-off-track problems in disc drives, wherein drive heads may be temporarily or permanently displaced from their intended tracks, causing performance degradation or failure in the disc drives. While it is possible to recover from drive failures with retries when the drive heads are temporarily displaced, the drive performance degradation can be severe. On the other hand, a permanent displacement of a drive head results in a permanent failure of the associated disc drive.